Hungary says EU borders must ‘remain sealed’

BUDAPEST: Hungary’s hardline anti-immigration government said Wednesday that the EU’s borders must “remain sealed” after the 27-nation bloc unveiled its latest asylum reform plan including a “compulsory solidarity mechanism”.

“Since 2015, the stance of the Hungarian Government on migration has been clear and unchanged,“ government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said in a Twitter post.

“While Hungary does not support obligatory distribution, it does defend joint borders. And we expect to receive the same amount of support as other Schengen states protecting those external borders,“ Kovacs said.

“We must ensure that the external borders of the EU and the Schengen Area remain perfectly sealed along all sections,“ he said.

Since Europe’s migration crisis in 2015 Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has erected heavily guarded fences along its borders with Serbia and Croatia, and refused to accept EU mandatory relocation quotas of refugees from elsewhere in the bloc.

Budapest also built so-called border “transit zone” camps for asylum-seekers that were described as “unlawful detention” by Europe’s top court earlier this year.

Budapest closed the camps soon after that court decision, but Kovacs said Wednesday that to protect the EU’s external borders, Brussels should set up “external hotspots” to process asylum claims.

The EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum proposes greater efficiency in the return of migrants who are denied asylum in Europe to their countries of origin.

“We need to focus more on returns and that’s why you can see our package today has new initiatives when it comes to be more effective on returns,“ said European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson.

Austria, which like Hungary has favoured a restrictionist immigration policy under recent governments led by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, gave the Commission’s plans a mixed reception.

“In its proposal, the Commission has already moved a lot in our direction — especially in the areas of repatriations, protection of external borders and co-operation with third countries,“ Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said in a statement.

“However, what’s clear for us is that the distribution of migrants in the EU has failed and makes no sense.

“Introducing distribution (of migrants) through the back door must not be allowed to happen,“ Nehammer added. — AFP